'Rainbow Six Siege' Pro Starts A Petition To Remove An Operator And It Gets Over 1000 Signatures

G2 Esports’ Rainbow Six Siege team captain Fabian has started a petition to remove one operator from the game entirely, after months of complaints about his overpowered nature from all levels of play have finally hit a fever pitch.

Lion, who was introduced in Operation Chimera, has been the target of a lot of criticism since his introduction, mainly due to his ability to scan the entire map and easily locate any moving enemies. As an attacker, he can effectively shut down the entire defensive team’s ability to roam and collect information, as the risk of being pinged by his drone is simply too great a risk. Currently, the only way to avoid having your location shown to the entire enemy team is to simply remain still for vital seconds.

Lion, one of the operators introduced in Operation Chimera.Ubisoft

As Fabian mentioned on
Twitter, the result of this is that the defense is much more likely to simply hole up in one place “like a scared chicken”. Siege’s enjoyment lives and dies on clutch wins and unexpected plays, and Lion is considered by much of the community to be antithetical to that.

Man I don't miss playing with or against Lion, first time in 3 months. He is horrible. It is so sad that one operator has such a massive impact on the way you have to play, it makes you not take any risks and sit still like a scared chicken.

It is also worth noting that Lion has one of the highest banned pick rates of any operator in the competitive scene. At the Paris Majors in August (which G2 won), he had a whopping 63.9% ban rate, being beaten only be defender Mira at 71.9%. Considering the second highest ban rate for an attacker was Glaz at only 39.1%, it shows just how problematic Lion has become since his introduction.

The community has suggested potential nerfs for Lion, such as limiting the pings to only Lion, instead of the rest of the team, or give the defense a way to counter or outright destroy the drone. Some players believe Lion should be the attacker’s equivalent of Pulse: a decent operator for location, but with severe limitations that require constant communication with their team.

At the time of writing, the petition has received 1,100 signatures in the one hour it has been live. While it is unlikely the calls for removal are genuine, it is big actions by high-profile players like this that are most likely to attract
Ubisoft’s attention, so expect big overhauls to Lion in the not-too-distant future.

Covering Rainbow Six Siege, its community and competitive scene. I also really like simulators, indie games, Assassin's Creed and computer hardware.

I’ve been a fan of Ubisoft's games for years, playing, following, and participating in Rainbow Six, Ghost Recon, The Division, Splinter Cell and Assassin's Creed, with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time being one of the first games I bought with my own money. I’m enthusias...